7 may 2020
Head of the Yesha Council, David Elhayani, and the head of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan
Settler's leaders came out Thursday against U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Middle East, arguing that it includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The heads of the Yesha Council (an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank) warn Washington is not being forthcoming about its intentions.
“[U.S.] government officials are working to advance Plan A, but are secretly working to advance Plan B. There is no bigger scam,” said David Elhayani, the Yesha Council chairman.
Settler leaders say they are worried that the price Israel would be required to pay for extending its authority over West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley would be the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In fact, Elhayani said that "a Palestinian state would be established on 70 percent of the territory of the West Bank.”
"While the county is preoccupied with the coronavirus, the U.S. government is preparing the ground for the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state and the well-oiled American public information machine will not stop for a moment as it tries to advance Trump's peace plan in any way possible.
There is a lot of text in the plan meant to confuse the public,” Elhayani said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday that he travel to Israel for a brief visit next week, during which he would meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue & White Chairman Benny Gantz.
Pompeo is expected to discuss the Israeli annexation promised by Netanyahu in his election campaign and tacitly agreed to by his coalition partner Gantz.
Both Israel and the United States have yet to complete the mapping of the areas that may be annexed as required in the proposed peace plan.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, also condemned what he said were the administration's true intentions.
"We will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the sovereignty process," he said.
"Sovereignty is an important thing for Israel's security, but it is not worth risking even one centimeter of Israeli land by the establishment of a terrorist state in the heart of the country."
Dagan added that despite the warm relationship with the Americans, the decision to go ahead with annexation has nothing to do with Washington.
"David Friedman [the United States Ambassador to Israel] is a warm and loving Jew," Dagan said. "I know him, and I understand that he is doing everything possible to safeguard Israel's interests. But with all the appreciation I have for Friedman, no American ambassador should worry about us. We chose Netanyahu, not the Americans. "
Friedman said on Wednesday that the Israeli government's intention to extend its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank is in line with U.S. policy.
Settler's leaders came out Thursday against U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Middle East, arguing that it includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The heads of the Yesha Council (an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank) warn Washington is not being forthcoming about its intentions.
“[U.S.] government officials are working to advance Plan A, but are secretly working to advance Plan B. There is no bigger scam,” said David Elhayani, the Yesha Council chairman.
Settler leaders say they are worried that the price Israel would be required to pay for extending its authority over West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley would be the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In fact, Elhayani said that "a Palestinian state would be established on 70 percent of the territory of the West Bank.”
"While the county is preoccupied with the coronavirus, the U.S. government is preparing the ground for the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state and the well-oiled American public information machine will not stop for a moment as it tries to advance Trump's peace plan in any way possible.
There is a lot of text in the plan meant to confuse the public,” Elhayani said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday that he travel to Israel for a brief visit next week, during which he would meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue & White Chairman Benny Gantz.
Pompeo is expected to discuss the Israeli annexation promised by Netanyahu in his election campaign and tacitly agreed to by his coalition partner Gantz.
Both Israel and the United States have yet to complete the mapping of the areas that may be annexed as required in the proposed peace plan.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, also condemned what he said were the administration's true intentions.
"We will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the sovereignty process," he said.
"Sovereignty is an important thing for Israel's security, but it is not worth risking even one centimeter of Israeli land by the establishment of a terrorist state in the heart of the country."
Dagan added that despite the warm relationship with the Americans, the decision to go ahead with annexation has nothing to do with Washington.
"David Friedman [the United States Ambassador to Israel] is a warm and loving Jew," Dagan said. "I know him, and I understand that he is doing everything possible to safeguard Israel's interests. But with all the appreciation I have for Friedman, no American ambassador should worry about us. We chose Netanyahu, not the Americans. "
Friedman said on Wednesday that the Israeli government's intention to extend its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank is in line with U.S. policy.
6 may 2020
US ambassador to Israel David Friedman has announced Washington’s readiness to recognize Israel's sovereignty in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley within the coming weeks.
In an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper on the second anniversary of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem, Friedman said prior steps need to be completed first before the recognition.
"Washington does not plan to impose any new conditions for the move," he said.
Freidman explained that the US would recognize the Israeli sovereignty after steps are taken, including the completion of mapping and halting Israeli settlements construction in Area C — which is excluded from the annexation.
"It's not the US that is declaring sovereignty but the Israeli government. Once it does, the US is ready to recognize it," he said.
Israel is expected to carry out the annexation plan on July 1st as agreed between Netanyahu and head of Blue and White party Benny Gantz, both of them currently forming a unity government.
In an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper on the second anniversary of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem, Friedman said prior steps need to be completed first before the recognition.
"Washington does not plan to impose any new conditions for the move," he said.
Freidman explained that the US would recognize the Israeli sovereignty after steps are taken, including the completion of mapping and halting Israeli settlements construction in Area C — which is excluded from the annexation.
"It's not the US that is declaring sovereignty but the Israeli government. Once it does, the US is ready to recognize it," he said.
Israel is expected to carry out the annexation plan on July 1st as agreed between Netanyahu and head of Blue and White party Benny Gantz, both of them currently forming a unity government.
3 may 2020
The US Court of Appeals of the District of Colombia has dropped a lawsuit filed in 2004 against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, for damages suffered by American families in attacks allegedly carried out by Palestinians against Israeli targets.
The court decided that “the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants” in Shabtai Scott Shatsky vs. the Palestine Liberation Organization, et al.
The suit was brought by the American victims of a 2002 suicide bombing in the West Bank against the PLO and the PA.
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said the US court rejected the appeal made by far-right groups in the well-known Shatsky lawsuit, submitted against the PLO and the PA in 2004. The plaintiffs were demanding about $900 million in damages.
The Finance Ministry expressed its satisfaction with the ruling saying it is the result of the efforts made by its accredited team of attorneys in Washington.
The court decided that “the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants” in Shabtai Scott Shatsky vs. the Palestine Liberation Organization, et al.
The suit was brought by the American victims of a 2002 suicide bombing in the West Bank against the PLO and the PA.
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said the US court rejected the appeal made by far-right groups in the well-known Shatsky lawsuit, submitted against the PLO and the PA in 2004. The plaintiffs were demanding about $900 million in damages.
The Finance Ministry expressed its satisfaction with the ruling saying it is the result of the efforts made by its accredited team of attorneys in Washington.
30 apr 2020
A total of 59 members of the US Congress yesterday urged their administration to restart humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians suspended over a year ago.
In a letter to the US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, the members of Congress said that with the COVID-19 outbreak, the assistance is urgently needed to help the Palestinians deal with the pandemic.
“As COVID-19 pandemic numbers continue to rise, we write to seek your assistance in the effort to restart U.S. humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, including UNRWA,” said the congress members in their letter to Craft. “As you know, the pandemic has now reached the Gaza Strip with cases beginning to inexorably rise in a place with few resources to combat the outbreak.
Coupled with the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, the pandemic now poses an unprecedented global health emergency.”
The letter added: “It is important that we empower these public health officials, who are deliberately putting themselves in harm’s way for the common good, by providing them the resources they need to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. government has funding available through its Migration and Refugee Assistance and Economic Support Fund programs for immediate obligation to address this deteriorating humanitarian situation. The administration need only obligate these funds - their use requires neither additional legislative language nor supplemental appropriations.
“These funds could be put to instant use supporting the public health response, including the 3,300 health care workers staffing 144 UNRWA health clinics that are now on the front lines in combating this pandemic. UNRWA is working closely with host authorities and the World Health Organization with triage care and protocols in place to identify patients with respiratory symptoms.
This funding could also support the six facilities comprising the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, as well as U.S. NGOs engaged in health work.”
The letter was signed by 59 members of the US Congress.
In a letter to the US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, the members of Congress said that with the COVID-19 outbreak, the assistance is urgently needed to help the Palestinians deal with the pandemic.
“As COVID-19 pandemic numbers continue to rise, we write to seek your assistance in the effort to restart U.S. humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, including UNRWA,” said the congress members in their letter to Craft. “As you know, the pandemic has now reached the Gaza Strip with cases beginning to inexorably rise in a place with few resources to combat the outbreak.
Coupled with the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, the pandemic now poses an unprecedented global health emergency.”
The letter added: “It is important that we empower these public health officials, who are deliberately putting themselves in harm’s way for the common good, by providing them the resources they need to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. government has funding available through its Migration and Refugee Assistance and Economic Support Fund programs for immediate obligation to address this deteriorating humanitarian situation. The administration need only obligate these funds - their use requires neither additional legislative language nor supplemental appropriations.
“These funds could be put to instant use supporting the public health response, including the 3,300 health care workers staffing 144 UNRWA health clinics that are now on the front lines in combating this pandemic. UNRWA is working closely with host authorities and the World Health Organization with triage care and protocols in place to identify patients with respiratory symptoms.
This funding could also support the six facilities comprising the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, as well as U.S. NGOs engaged in health work.”
The letter was signed by 59 members of the US Congress.
28 apr 2020
Breaking Defense magazine reports that Israel may ask to get its yearly aid ahead of time, and possibly twice as much as usual… But 26 million Americans out of jobs and U.S. companies closing due to coronavirus might object… A petition proposes: ‘Israel has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.’
By Alison Weir – If Americans Knew
Breaking Defense, a digital magazine that covers military issues, reports that Israel may ask for its U.S. aid early, possibly in a lump sum that could be as high as $7.6 billion.
This would work out to almost $21 million per day from American taxpayers, even though the U.S. is approaching a $4 trillion deficit (the largest in the world), and Israel typically has a lower unemployment rate than the United States.
The report is by Breaking Defense Israel correspondent Arie Egozi, an Israeli citizen who served in the Israeli military and is close to the Israeli security establishment.
Egozi’s article states that because of the coronavirus pandemic, “Israel’s Ministry of Defense and high command have hammered out an emergency plan for an appeal to Washington.”
The article, which carries a Tel Aviv dateline, reports: “Sources here say the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Israel to ask Washington to make major changes to the [aid] agreement, including a request to receive the annual allocation $3.8 billion earlier than planned.”
U.S. aid to Israel is normally disbursed in October, in a lump sum that is deposited to an interest-bearing Israeli account in the New York Federal Reserve Bank. (Since the U.S. has been operating at a deficit, this means that the U.S. government borrows the money and pays interest on it long after it has gone out.)
Potentially $14,000 per minute from American taxpayersIn addition to receiving the aid earlier than usual, a “senior source” quoted by Egozi suggests that Israel may request that the aid expected for 2024 also be disbursed this year.
If that happens, it would work out to nearly $21 million per day, or $14,460 per minute to Israel from American taxpayers suffering from a devastating hit to the U.S. economy.
Moreover, it is highly likely that when 2024 comes around, the advance would be forgiven, as have numerous U.S. “loans” to Israel, and Israel would get the aid again.
The current aid to Israel is based on a 2016 agreement by the Obama Administration to give Israel $3.8 billion annually for the next 10 years – a total of $38 billion, touted as the largest such aid package in U.S. history. Overall, Israel has received more U.S. aid than any other country, on average, 7,000 times more per capita than others.
While the Obama Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a non-binding agreement, Israel has received this sum every year since it was signed. Israel advocates in Congress are currently seeking to cement it into a law that would permit this amount to go even higher in the future.
A ‘wild idea’ that might not appeal to AmericansEgozi reports that the former president of Israel Aerospace Industries, Joseph Weiss, said asking for the money ahead of time is “a wild idea,” but said it “makes sense in the special conditions created [in Israel] by the pandemic.”
However, it’s unlikely that this would make equivalent sense to Americans, who have been at least as hard hit by the pandemic.
Over 26 million Americans so far have lost their jobs, and many U.S. companies are facing bankruptcy. A comment below Egozi’s article suggests how Americans would respond to a massive outlay to Israel this year:
“Why do Americans put up with all this money going to Israel when millions of them have no healthcare, no job, and are eating from food banks?”
To deflect such outrage, Israel partisans in the U.S. typically defend the aid by saying that it eventually goes to U.S. defense companies. However, they fail to mention that millions of the dollars go to Israeli companies that compete with American businesses, often leading to job losses in the U.S. No other country receiving U.S. military aid is allowed to do this.
In addition, many Americans feel that Israel should use its own money to purchase its weaponry, as the U.S. does. They point out that if Americans wished to subsidize weapons companies, the U.S. government could simply purchase items for American use.
Similarly, a growing number of Americans object to the uses Israel makes of U.S. weapons, regularly deploying them in violation of both international law and U.S. law (also this).
However, the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. is extremely influential in both political parties, and U.S. media rarely report on aid to Israel, so the lump sum could slip through without notice.
An administration official recently said that Israel would not need to worry about money “even if there is a depression.”
Petition by Council for the National InterestA critic of the aid, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, points out that Israel is not an ally, and that it has often “done damage to the United States.” Giraldi, who is currently executive director of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), notes that Israel often spies on the U.S. and has stolen American technology. It also tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship, killing 34 Americans and injuring over 170.
Giraldi is asking people to sign a petition by CNI: “Stop the $3.8 Billion to Israel.”
The petition states: “…We need to take care of Americans and not send our tax money to a wealthy foreign country. Israel has already received billions of dollars from American taxpayers. It has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.”
Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel.
By Alison Weir – If Americans Knew
Breaking Defense, a digital magazine that covers military issues, reports that Israel may ask for its U.S. aid early, possibly in a lump sum that could be as high as $7.6 billion.
This would work out to almost $21 million per day from American taxpayers, even though the U.S. is approaching a $4 trillion deficit (the largest in the world), and Israel typically has a lower unemployment rate than the United States.
The report is by Breaking Defense Israel correspondent Arie Egozi, an Israeli citizen who served in the Israeli military and is close to the Israeli security establishment.
Egozi’s article states that because of the coronavirus pandemic, “Israel’s Ministry of Defense and high command have hammered out an emergency plan for an appeal to Washington.”
The article, which carries a Tel Aviv dateline, reports: “Sources here say the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Israel to ask Washington to make major changes to the [aid] agreement, including a request to receive the annual allocation $3.8 billion earlier than planned.”
U.S. aid to Israel is normally disbursed in October, in a lump sum that is deposited to an interest-bearing Israeli account in the New York Federal Reserve Bank. (Since the U.S. has been operating at a deficit, this means that the U.S. government borrows the money and pays interest on it long after it has gone out.)
Potentially $14,000 per minute from American taxpayersIn addition to receiving the aid earlier than usual, a “senior source” quoted by Egozi suggests that Israel may request that the aid expected for 2024 also be disbursed this year.
If that happens, it would work out to nearly $21 million per day, or $14,460 per minute to Israel from American taxpayers suffering from a devastating hit to the U.S. economy.
Moreover, it is highly likely that when 2024 comes around, the advance would be forgiven, as have numerous U.S. “loans” to Israel, and Israel would get the aid again.
The current aid to Israel is based on a 2016 agreement by the Obama Administration to give Israel $3.8 billion annually for the next 10 years – a total of $38 billion, touted as the largest such aid package in U.S. history. Overall, Israel has received more U.S. aid than any other country, on average, 7,000 times more per capita than others.
While the Obama Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a non-binding agreement, Israel has received this sum every year since it was signed. Israel advocates in Congress are currently seeking to cement it into a law that would permit this amount to go even higher in the future.
A ‘wild idea’ that might not appeal to AmericansEgozi reports that the former president of Israel Aerospace Industries, Joseph Weiss, said asking for the money ahead of time is “a wild idea,” but said it “makes sense in the special conditions created [in Israel] by the pandemic.”
However, it’s unlikely that this would make equivalent sense to Americans, who have been at least as hard hit by the pandemic.
Over 26 million Americans so far have lost their jobs, and many U.S. companies are facing bankruptcy. A comment below Egozi’s article suggests how Americans would respond to a massive outlay to Israel this year:
“Why do Americans put up with all this money going to Israel when millions of them have no healthcare, no job, and are eating from food banks?”
To deflect such outrage, Israel partisans in the U.S. typically defend the aid by saying that it eventually goes to U.S. defense companies. However, they fail to mention that millions of the dollars go to Israeli companies that compete with American businesses, often leading to job losses in the U.S. No other country receiving U.S. military aid is allowed to do this.
In addition, many Americans feel that Israel should use its own money to purchase its weaponry, as the U.S. does. They point out that if Americans wished to subsidize weapons companies, the U.S. government could simply purchase items for American use.
Similarly, a growing number of Americans object to the uses Israel makes of U.S. weapons, regularly deploying them in violation of both international law and U.S. law (also this).
However, the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. is extremely influential in both political parties, and U.S. media rarely report on aid to Israel, so the lump sum could slip through without notice.
An administration official recently said that Israel would not need to worry about money “even if there is a depression.”
Petition by Council for the National InterestA critic of the aid, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, points out that Israel is not an ally, and that it has often “done damage to the United States.” Giraldi, who is currently executive director of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), notes that Israel often spies on the U.S. and has stolen American technology. It also tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship, killing 34 Americans and injuring over 170.
Giraldi is asking people to sign a petition by CNI: “Stop the $3.8 Billion to Israel.”
The petition states: “…We need to take care of Americans and not send our tax money to a wealthy foreign country. Israel has already received billions of dollars from American taxpayers. It has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.”
Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel.
